My favourite thing to do is go to the movies with a large-pour glass of wine and a bag of Burger Rings. Aided by two standard drinks and the best chip product on the market, I sit back and blissfully dissociate to the magic of cinema, the outside world falling away.
Unless, that is, someone sitting near me feels the need to pick up their phone.
We, as a society, have devoted a lot of energy over the years to telling people to put their phone on silent before going to the movies. And it’s worked: while there might be the odd rogue offender, it’s a rare occasion that I hear someone’s phone ring in the cinema. We have all come to the mutual understanding that disturbing your fellow patrons with the bleat of a ringtone is really annoying.
What we now need to turn our collective focus to eradicating is people playing on their phone mid-movie. I don’t mean a quick glance to check a text, but a full, minutes-long scroll.
To spell this out, because clearly some of us do not get it: in an otherwise pitch-black room, it is extremely distracting to suddenly have a small, bright light in your field of vision. Now, instead of watching Barry Keoghan serenade a toad to the tune of Coldplay in 2024’s Bird, I am watching you watch your mate’s Instagram story. (And yes, even with your brightness turned all the way down, we can still see what’s on your screen).
It’s not just irritating but deeply baffling behaviour. If you want to mindlessly second-screen a movie while you scroll, respect, but why not save yourself $25 by doing it at home on your couch? The point of paying to see a movie in the cinema is to give yourself a distraction-free, immersive experience. (Sidenote: cinemas don’t advertise this but if you are really hating the movie, you can get a refund if you walk out early enough. If you’re bored, just leave!).
Further, can you really not get through 90 minutes without being on your phone? How embarrassing.
I non-ironically feel about going to the movies the way Nicole Kidman does in that AMC ad – wide-eyed and full of wonder about its ability to transport us somewhere new. An eroded attention span may have prevented you from experiencing this particular joy yourself, but please, don’t ruin it for the rest of us. Put your phone away.
